Exploring the World with You
by insanemonkeyboy
Summary: The war is over. Natsu Dragneel succeeded in killing Zeref, but died himself in the process. But then Ankhseram appears and gives Natsu a chance to be alive again, and a chance to lift the curse on the first master. How will this work out for Fairy Tail? NatsuxMavis. Warning: Character deaths. Rating changed to M for graphic descriptions of brutality
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. I just write stuff about it

Alright, before I even start this, I'll come right out and say that I don't think Ankhseram in this story follows canon at all. For anyone interested in my theory of who canon Ankhseram will be, I'll post it at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

 _'What's going on. Where am I?'_

Natsu Dragneel was watching the new world unfold beneath him. A world without Zeref. A world without Acnologia. Fairy Tail had done it. They'd conquered the strongest enemies!

There was a coldness in him. Something he'd never felt before as a fire mage. He couldn't move. Couldn't close his eyes. Couldn't even feel his body.

What exactly had happened?

Suddenly it came flooding back. Natsu Dragneel. E.N.D. The strongest demon in the books of Zeref, made from the body of the black mage's younger brother himself.

And Zeref…

 **~~~Flashback~~~**

"Happy! Nooo!" Natsu held the body of the exceed, tears streaming from his face. Happy was gone. Killed by the man who called himself his brother. Mavis, her body revived by some plan she'd concocted with Cana, lay unconscious nearby. Acnologia was dead, but the battle had so weakened Natsu that he had no strength left.

Until Happy had flown in front of him, blocking Zeref's death bolt.

At that moment something awakened inside of him. Something triggered by his grief. By seeing his comrades laying around him, some dead, most unconscious, taken down by the hand of the black wizard who called himself a brother.

 _'A brother would never do these things.'_ Natsu clenched his fists. He felt a rage building inside him, a rage that gave him strength. That gave him power.

He faced Zeref, his now glowing eyes locking on his 'brother's' in a death glare. "I should've killed you before."

Zeref just laughed. "It's too late for that, Natsu. Nothing can kill me now. You failed." He said simply. "Now die."

A black wave fired at him, but when it hit him he didn't die. Instead, the power inside him swelled, almost as if it were released – strengthened by the black wave.

Natsu Dragneel always acted on instinct, and now his instinct was telling him only one thing. His eyes glowed a fiery orange as he gathered more magic power than he thought he could possibly have.

"Fire that divides body and spirit, consume the evil that stands in my way. As the heart of the fairy I invoke you. As the strongest of demons I command you. As the king of the fire dragons I compel you. Come forth, immortal flames, and destroy that which is indestructible. FAIRY DEMON DRAGON'S IMMORTAL DESTROYING BLADE!"

A fiery, sulfurous cloud formed overhead, flashing with brilliant white light, and a sword began to descend from the heavens. The sword was made of three fires, swirling and sparking together. The white fire of the fairies. The black fire of the demons. And the crimson fire of the fire dragon kings, all combined into a single, impossibly powerful attack. All around them, people scrambled to get away, carrying the wounded and injured far from the scene. Darkness fell all around, with a great, fiery light encompassing the two brothers, each standing their ground, unwilling to give in. Tall and fierce they stood as the blade picked up speed, plummeting to the ground before either had time to dodge.

Natsu saw Zeref's eyes go wide, then his body disintegrated in the destructive flames, leaving only Natsu standing amid the raging inferno of white, dark, and crimson flames. For a moment his orange eyes glowed brighter than light itself in victory. Then the light faded from them as he slumped to the ground, and everything faded to black.

 **~~~End Flashback~~~**

Oh. That's right. Natsu Dragneel was dead. So this is what happens when you die? You watch the world go on without you? Fucking great.

He was buried with Happy right next to him in the grave. On one side of him was Lisanna. He felt sorry for the Strauss family. This was the second time they'd gone through the death of their youngest member. And this time he wouldn't be there to support them. On the other side was Macao. Near him were other graves. Gildarts. Freed. Droy. Reedus. Watching Romeo cry in front of his and Macao's grave would've brought tears to his eyes, if he'd had a body.

And Mavis was there too, kneeling between his grave and Zeref's, which was behind his. There hadn't been a body to bury for Zeref, but they'd still given him a headstone. There were tears in her eyes as well. Natsu couldn't help being surprised. It didn't seem like the first master would be that attached to anyone, except maybe Zeref from their history. Yet she seemed to be equally looking to his grave and Zeref's.

Not far away were some other grave stones. Jellal, who had foolishly challenged Zeref, believing his power as a wizard saint was sufficient to take the black wizard down. Yukino from Sabertooth, and Rufus next to her.

The war had taken its toll alright. Fiore had come out victorious. Fairy Tail had come out victorious. But not by much.

The council showed up. Given his great feat of killing Zeref, they decided to give him the number one rank among wizard saints, honorary of course.

Slowly the scene faded out. He saw Mavis's curse beginning to affect her again. The first to die from it was Jet. The first master was inconsolable after that. When Lucy tried to comfort her and got her back into the guild, she was the next to go. After that Mavis withdrew from the guild, watching her friends from a distance through her tears.

Natsu sighed. How long was he going to be watching this? He didn't really understand much about death, but if this was the afterlife, it sucked.

"Hello Natsu," Natsu looked up at the sound of the voice. There was a man before him, tall, with long black hair. He looked well built, but his eyes glowed with a golden color.

"Who are you?" He found himself suddenly able to speak. "Where am I?"

"You are in Purgatorium, the place between life and death." The person answered, saying nothing of his first question.

"Wait. So I'm not really dead?"

"Yes, you are. But your body is still in perfect condition," the man replied.

"Who are you?" Natsu asked again.

"I'm Ankhseram," the man replied, and Natsu flared up visibly. "Relax," the man replied. "I'm not here to harm you. In fact, I want to give you your life back."

Natsu couldn't see or feel any kind of body, but he still felt like he was gaping. "Say what?"

Ankhseram laughed. "I said I want to give you your life back. On one condition."

"What's that?" Natsu said, suddenly suspicious.

"I plan to give you my favor," the god of life and death replied. "And I need you to accept it."

"Your favor?" Natsu was confused.

Ankhseram laughed again. "Ah Natsu. Everything has to be spelled out for you, ne? Well, a god's favor means that you get special abilities related to the god. For instance, Dimaria was able to stop time because she had the favor of the god Chronos. She also had the ability to do a god takeover because of that."

"Dimaria?"

"Look, names aren't important. The important thing is understanding what it means to have a god's favor."

"Oh. Ok." Natsu didn't fully understand, but he pretended he did anyway.

"One thing I don't get though," he said after a minute.

"What's that?" Ankhseram asked him.

"Why would you want to give me your favor? I mean, you cursed my brother and the first guild master of the guild I belong to. So why would you give me your favor?"

Ankhseram sighed. "I didn't exactly curse them," he said. "Actually, they came under a curse themselves when they started believing in it."

"Ok…" Natsu said, not sure how that worked.

"It's true," Ankhersam said. "You don't need to understand all the details, but what you do need to know is that I can give you the power to break the curse, if you will be my chosen vessel."

"Break the curse?"

"Yes. If you accept my favor and become my vessel, I'll give you the power to break the curse on your first master. Of course, I'll have to come up with the details. These things always require some kind of ritual action and all that kind of thing. But first things first. Do you accept?"

"Yes, of course." Natsu said. "Anything to save first master."

"Very well," Ankhseram said. "Now, all we need to decide is the actions…."

"I think," he suddenly got a smile that Natsu wasn't sure that he liked on his face. "I think it should be a kiss."

"A kiss?" Natsu balked.

"Oh yes," the god replied, getting somewhat excited now. "I know it sounds trite, but it will be rather amusing to see. And once you kiss her, you'll both be the same age." He smiled. "Oh yes, that should do nicely."

"Does it have to be a kiss?" Natsu whined. "I don't even know her."

"Yep. A kiss." Ankhseram declared, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Now that the contract is sealed, it's time to come back to life. Return to your body!"

Before he could protest, Natsu suddenly felt the almost foreign, yet nostalgic sensation of being in an actual body again. He opened his eyes to discover everything was pitch black. He was in a tight confined space that hugged his body almost like a…

Coffin. Right. He was dead. So apparently everything he saw while in that purgatorium place really happened.

Which also meant…

Yep, he could feel the presence of Ankhseram. Now he just had to get to Mavis.

He sucked in what little air was available to him and let out a fire dragon's roar, blasting up through the ground and opening his grave wide open. Then he proceeded to jump out of his grave and head toward the guild.

 **~~~Erza~~~**

It was approaching evening and Erza and Mirajane were getting ready to go to the grave site. This marked the 1 year anniversary of the death of Natsu Dragneel, the heart of Fairy Tail, and Lisanna Strauss. Mirajane still hadn't recovered from attending her sister's funeral a second time. Elfman was taking it really hard too.

Erza felt tears come unbidden to her eyes, and not just because of the memory of Natsu. Mavis, the exuberant childlike first master, had isolated herself in the forest after two of the guild members had died. Nobody even tried to go out there after her, all afraid of being the next victims of the curse. With no Mavis and no Natsu, the guild was a shadow of what it once was.

"Let's go Erza," Mirajane said. The two headed out the door to the guild, going out to the grave site to visit Natsu and Lisanna. They would also spend some time at the other graves, but those were the two that were the most visited, by everybody.

As they headed out the door, they suddenly saw a huge blast of fire shoot into the air from the direction of the graveyard.

"Oh no," said Mira. "Don't tell me…"

"Why can't they leave them in peace, even after they're dead?" Erza said, tears in her eyes. This wouldn't be the first time that a dark guild member had come to desecrate the grave site of Natsu Dragneel, who was unanimously hated by the dark guilds.

The two took off at a run toward the graveyard. They were a little more than halfway there when they were met by a familiar figure, dressed in a vest, black pants, and the white scarf that he was buried in.

The girls stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths hanging opened as he approached. Erza was the first to speak, stuttering as her tongue tripped over itself trying to get the name out.

"N…N…Natsu?"

"Yo Erza," he said in his cheerful voice.

She ran to him, tackling him to the ground. She was quickly joined by Mirajane. "Natsu. Where were you for so long?" Erza asked. "We were so sad. We thought you were d…." she stopped, not wanting to say the word. A small part of her feared that this was a dream, and that speaking the harsh reality would snap her out of it.

"Dead?" Natsu replied, almost casually. "I was. But… Well, let's just say I've been given another chance at life."

"But you were dead for a whole year!" Mirajane exclaimed, her tears flowing freely. "How can you be alive again? Your body should be nothing but bones and dirt by this time."

Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "I don't really get all of it, honestly. I was in some place between life and death, and then Ankhseram appeared and told me that he could restore me to life if I agreed to be his vessel."

"Wait, what?" Mira and Erza were both staring at the dragon slayer in shock.

"Umm… Well, basically, I'm alive again, and I'm Ankhseram's vessel. Oh. That reminds me. I have to find Mavis!"

"Natsu…" Erza said sadly. He apparently didn't know about the first master. "Mavis is cursed. You can't go near her without dying."

Natsu stood, pulling both girls up with him. "I still have to find her," he said.

"But why Natsu?" Mirajane asked in a pleading voice. "We just got you back, you can't go off and die again!"

"You'll see," Natsu said with a grin. "But let's go to the guild first. I'll invite anyone who wants to come to come with me."

"Most people are gone from the guild Natsu," Mirajane said. "Erza and I are always among the last to leave."

"That's fine." Natsu said. "It's probably better that way anyway, now that I think about it. We'll just go out and find Mavis."

"Look Natsu," Erza said. She was getting tired of his determination to go out and die again when they'd just gotten him back. "Even if it were a good idea to find Mavis, I don't think you'll be able to locate her easily. She doesn't want to be found, you know."

"It's actually going to be easy," Natsu said. "For two reasons. One, my dragon slayer powers are still undiminished, which means I'll be able to sniff her out when she gets close. Two, for some reason I can sense the magic of her curse now."

"Oh, and stop assuming I'm gonna' die. Both of you." He added as he turned to head off.

"Natsu, we can't let you go." Erza said blocking his path.

Natsu sighed. "Erza, this isn't up for debate. I'm a lot more powerful than I was before, and as much fun as it would be to go a couple rounds of sparring, I need to find Mavis as soon as possible."

Erza hesitated. She hadn't considered the fact that Natsu was now not just a powerful dragon slayer, but also the vessel of the god of life and death. She could probably still beat him, though.

"Erza, do you trust me?" Natsu asked quietly.

That threw Erza for a loop. She was ready, almost excited actually, for a fight – to test his newfound strength. But did she trust him? She trusted him to be reckless. To throw himself into danger and have no concern for his own well-being. That's how he died in the first place, right?

She sighed. No, she wasn't being entirely fair to him. After all, he'd proven to be the only one on the battlefield capable of killing Zeref. Many others who were considered more powerful than him had tried and died in the attempt without so much as putting a scratch on the black wizard.

So did she trust him? Natsu would never lie to her. If he was telling her that he wasn't going to die here, then he honestly believed it. He believed with all his heart that after he found Mavis and did whatever it was he was planning, he would still be alive and well. That would just have to be good enough for her.

She sighed and dropped her guard. "Yes, Natsu. I do trust you."

Natsu came forward and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Erza…" he said quietly.

Then he headed off into the forest, with Erza and Mirajane both following him.

It wasn't long before they came to a blackened area of the forest. Natsu led them through it till they came into view of the first master. She was sitting with her back to a rock, her eyes filled with tears.

"Stay here," he told them as he began to approach the first master. She looked up at his approach, and her eyes widened.

"Natsu?!" She exclaimed, disbelievingly. Then fear took over. "Stay back Natsu! Don't come any closer!"

Natsu didn't slow his approach. "Mavis," he said quietly. "I can help you."

"No!" She cried out. "Stay back Natsu! You don't understand! I'll kill you! I've already killed Jet. And Lucy. If you don't leave you'll be next!" She started backpedaling.

Natsu moved so quickly even Erza could barely see him. He caught the first master by the wrist and turned her toward him.

"Trust me Mavis," he said, just loud enough that Mira and Erza could hear it where they were standing. Then, as the small first master looked into his eyes with her own fear and guilt-laden orbs, Natsu did something Erza never would've expected. He leaned forward and kissed the first master, directly on the lips.

Mavis's eyes went wide, and there was a sudden flash of light. When it subsided, Mavis was still standing there, her green eyes wide with shock. And there, in a vest that was suddenly down to his knees and pants that were around his ankles, was Natsu Dragneel… as he had been when he was 12. He looked around with his dark orbs wide.

"K-kawaii!" screamed Mira, and Erza was only seconds behind her.

"Dammit Ankhersam," Natsu growled, loud enough for them to hear. "I should've known this is what you meant by you'll both be the same age."

Mavis, on the other hand, was beginning to smile, a smile so wide that they started to believe it would stretch off her face.

"Thanks Natsu!" She said, hugging him tightly. "I don't know how you did it, but the curse is gone!"

Natsu blushed, hugging her back. "I'm glad I could help, Mavis!" His voice was back to the high-pitched tenor he had before hitting puberty.

Erza was surprised when Mirajane stepped forward. "Alright," she said. "Time for you kids to go to bed."

"Hmph." Natsu stuck out his tongue at her. "I may have the body of a 12 year old, but I'm still 400, give or take a few years."

Mavis giggled. "I think it's your body that matters, Natsu-kun," she said.

Natsu blushed at her choice of honorific. Erza just grinned. "Kawaii!" She squealed, feeling a little like Mira. She couldn't help it though, as Mavis hugged a red-faced Natsu, she couldn't help feeling very motherly.

"Hey," Natsu said suddenly. "I want to try something. Fire Dragon King Mode!"

Suddenly they were all engulfed in an intense heat. So intense it melted everyone's clothes right off. Mavis, thinking quickly, gave herself some illusion clothes.

"Alright!" Natsu celebrated. "My magic power's still as strong as it was before!"

"Requip!" Erza requipped to a comfortable dress. "You're paying for that armor, you brat." She said as Mira used transform magic to cover herself. "If you weren't a kid you'd be receiving a severe punishment right now!"

"That reminds me," Mira said. "What are we going to do with them tonight? Natsu shouldn't stay at his house alone now that he's a kid again."

"We'll look after them, of course." Erza said. "Natsu can go home with you, and I'll bring Mavis to Fairy Hills."

"Nuh-huh." Mavis said. "I'm going with Natsu-kun."

Erza and Mira both sweat-dropped. "Natsu-kun?"

Mavis nodded. "Of course. Natsu-kun just came back from the dead and saved me from the curse! It's only natural I should want to get to know him better."

"You can do that during the day…" Erza said. "All you're doing tonight is sleeping."

"Oh please," Mavis said. "I'm in my 20s…"

"Maybe you _were_ in your 20s," Erza said, "but if the curse has been lifted that makes you 12 again, since your body hasn't changed."

"Oh… I guess you're right…" Mavis pouted. Then she grinned. "But still, I bet Mira's house has more space than your room at Fairy Hills."

Erza opened her mouth, then closed it again. She couldn't really argue with that.

"It's settled then." Mira grinned. "Natsu and Mavis, come with me. We'll get you home and in bed."

Natsu's stomach rumbled rather loudly.

"Maybe I should make you some food first," Mira grinned.

Erza sighed as they headed of toward Mirajane's house before making her way back to Fairy Hills. This had been one strange day.

* * *

**A/N

Ok, so my theory on who Ankhseram will actually be is this: I think Ankhseram is basically like the Fairy Heart, except that he is the unlimited source of magic for all earthland. I also believe that the "curse" that Zeref and Mavis are under isn't a real curse, but one created/imagined by Zeref that works because Zeref and Mavis believe in it and not because Ankhseram actually cursed them.

If anyone is interested in my reasonsing, pm me. It's too much to explain here.

Anyway, read and review please. And incidentally, the story will be rated T for the foreseeable future. Perhaps if I carry this story to the point where they're both old enough I'll change the rating to M. Ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Fairy Tail, or any of the characters. I just write about them. And stuff...

So, to answer the question: is Natsu more powerful than Mavis?

Well, that's actually hard to say. Between his dragon slayer magic and his god magic (now), he certainly rivals Mavis in strength. However, I would say Mavis's superior ability to strategize and plan would easily give her the victory in most head-to-head scenarios. That's all I'll say on the subject for now.

Anyway, enjoy the reading. And don't forget to drop a review if you like it. Or if you don't like it. I love constructive criticism when I can get it.

Flames, on the other hand... Well, they really serve no purpose except to make flamers feel like they have some worth in the real world.

Anyway, read. Review. Like. Follow. I love all my readers. And I'm not drunk, I swear.

Well, mostly not drunk, anyway.**

* * *

"Mirajane's late today," Makarov commented to Erza, who was sitting at the bar, staring at the door.

"Yeah," Kinana pouted from behind the bar. "I had to open up by myself. And she didn't even say why. Just said something about an urgent shopping trip this morning."

"Shopping?" Makarov raised an eyebrow. "Shopping doesn't sound like a good excuse for being late."

"Maybe it will when she arrives, master." Erza said, trying to placate the old man.

"Hmph." Makarov looked at her and got a knowing gleam in his eye. "I can't wait for her to arrive then."

Crap. He suspected something. Why did she have to get involved in the conversation at all? Wait. Better question, why hadn't the barmaid let her take the kids shopping for new clothes? She knew fashion, even if the silver-haired demon thought she lacked fashion sense.

"That bitch is going to owe me two strawberry cakes when she gets here," Erza muttered as she looked toward the door. Hadn't the whole idea of leaving early been to keep just this situation from happening?

Suddenly the door burst open and Natsu and Mavis came running in. They scanned the guild frantically till their eyes fell on Erza.

"Erza-san! You've got to save us!" Natsu and Mavis yelled together, running up and hiding behind Erza. "She's trying to kill us!"

Every eye in the guild turned to her, and she could practically see the questions hanging on their lips. But suddenly the doors flew open and a demonic aura flooded the guild, making even Erza shudder.

"GET BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT YOU LITTLE SHITS!"

"Watch your language in front of…" Erza trailed off as her eyes found Mirajane, the source of the angry demonic aura. The face and clothes were Mirajane's, but her hair stuck straight out in all directions from her head, frizzled as though she'd just stuck her finger in an electric socket. In addition to that, the normal, silvery-white luster was replaced by a disgusting greenish-yellow hue that reminded Erza of the one time she'd allowed herself to get wasted after eating a lemon meringue pie.

"Umm, is that a new take over Mira?" she asked as politely as she could. Mavis burst into giggles behind her, with Natsu joining her with his high pitched laugh.

"NO IT'S NOT A FUCKING TAKE-OVER DUMBASS!" Mira screamed, still advancing. Natsu and Mavis stopped laughing instantly and shrunk behind Erza. "IT'S THOSE UNGRATEFUL LITTLE WRETCHES BEHIND YOU!"

Erza turned to glare at the pair of tweens briefly before taking a step forward toward Mirajane. If Natsu weren't 12 she would've willingly abandoned him to his fate. "Mira, why don't you start by explaining what exactly happened?"

Mira glared at the two, trying to step past Erza. But Erza just stepped with her to block her. They danced for a few moments, Mira trying to get around with Erza blocking her easily with each attempt. Finally the take over mage growled. "Why don't you ask them what happened?" She said, glaring at the pair cowering behind Erza.

Erza turned to Mavis and Natsu. "Explain. Now."

"Well…" Natsu looked at Mavis before starting. "We got to the shopping center in downtown Magnolia. Mira went into the clothing store with us and picked out two sets of clothing for each of us. Then she told us to go find a few more outfits while she went to get her hair done…"

"Go on," Erza prompted when Natsu didn't speak for a few minutes.

"Well," he continued. "Neither of us are really much for shopping, so we got bored really quickly. When we went next door, she had a towel over her face and her hair and the back of her head soaking in this sink-type thing. The stylist was gone, and I wanted to play a prank, so I was about to heat the water to boiling but Mavis stopped me."

"Well at least one of you has some sense…" Erza said, and then face-palmed as Mavis stuck her tongue out at Natsu. "But that doesn't explain… that." She pointed to Mira's hair.

"Well, Mavis went to the magic dye section and found some yellow and a lime-green. Then she poured them into the sink with the water, and told me to wait five minutes. We kind of hid behind a curtain in case the stylist came back, but nobody came in during that time… So then, after 5 minutes, she told me to use my lightning flame mode on the water. So I did."

"I take back what I said earlier," Erza said looking at the blonde-haired girl who also happened to be the first master of Fairy Tail. Natsu stuck his tongue out at her.

At this point, the initial shock of events had worn off enough that guild members were beginning to ask other, more pressing questions.

"Wait, first is back?! I thought she wasn't coming around 'cause of that curse thingy."

"Is that Natsu's brother? I didn't even know Natsu had a brother."

"Why do you smell just like the Salamander, shrimp?" Gajeel's voice.

"N-Natsu-nii?" Wendy's voice, a little shrill and disbelieving.

"That's not Natsu." Gray's voice, a little dejected. "One, that kid's no more than 12. Two, we all know Natsu died in the war when he killed Zeref."

"A dragon's nose don't lie." Gajeel again. "That little fucker's the salamander alright."

At this point Wendy was already running forward, tackling the young dragon slayer to the floor. "Natsu!" She cried out, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "You… you were d-d-d-d…"

"Dead?" Natsu grinned cheerfully. "Well, as you can see, I'm not. Anymore."

Suddenly the guild erupted into chaos. Everyone talking, asking questions, yelling at Erza for not letting them know sooner. Erza looked to Mirajane to help her explain, but the barmaid had disappeared from the guild. Hopefully she hadn't died from embarrassment.

"EVERYBODY QUIET!" Makarov bellowed, suddenly a giant towering over the guild. Instantly everything was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Now, first," Makarov said turning to Mavis. "Why don't you explain what's going on?"

"Eh?" Mavis looked at him, a mischievous smile on her lips. "Well, if you must know…" She somehow managed to conjure up a blush. "Natsu seduced me in the forest and his amorous advances lifted my curse. He kind of forced his attentions on me, but everything he was doing to me felt so amazing…" She managed to blush deeper.

"MAVIS?!" Natsu roared as the whole guild turned their eyes to the dragon slayer.

"Salamander…" Gajeel growled. "If you weren't somehow a 12 year old, I'd pound you into the ground for doing something so indecent to the first master."

"And you call me the perv, flame brain?!" Gray yelled. "She's still a kid for fuck's sake!"

"Watch your language Gray!" Erza yelled. Then she sighed. "Alright, I don't know exactly how it happened, but First Master Mavis is just having a little fun at Natsu's expense. All I know is that Natsu somehow came back from the dead. Mira and I met him while we were on the way to go visit his grave, and he told us he had to go find Mavis. We followed him, and he sniffed her out really quickly with his dragon slayer nose. Then, when we found her, she was yelling at him to get away, but he wouldn't listen. He just kept getting closer. And when he was close enough he…" She blushed slightly as she remembered the scene. "He kissed her, and there was this really bright light. When it faded, Natsu was 12 again, and Mavis said the curse was gone. After that, I was going to take Mavis to Fairy Hills with me, but Mira insisted on taking Natsu to her house, and Mavis insisted on going with."

There was a long silence. Then suddenly a voice piped up. "Hey. Where's Elfman? Shouldn't he know about this if they were at Mira's house last night?"

Natsu and Mavis both broke out into hysterical laughter again. As soon as they were recovered enough to talk, Natsu said, "As soon as he came down and saw me and Mavis in the kitchen, he screamed something about being a man and passed out. So Mira laid him on the couch. He's probably still there."

"I hope he likes his new mustache," Mavis added, and the two broke out laughing again.

Erza looked around and saw a lot of startled and confused faces around the room.

Makarov sighed. "One thing I should warn you about. Before the first's… lacrima condition happened, she was known to have an affinity for mischief…"

"Mischief?" Everyone's eyes shot wide open. "OH NO!"

"First Master and Natsu?!" Groaned all members of the guild who remembered Natsu's young teens.

 _What have we gotten ourselves into_ , Erza thought as she sweat-dropped. Natsu's pranks had always been childish and often obvious. But with Mavis's mind to back him up, there would be no safety for the guild for the next several months. _Why couldn't the kiss have worked the opposite way and made Mavis more mature? We're so fucked._

Suddenly the doors burst open. "HEY EVERYONE! YOU'RE NEVER GONNA' BELIEVE THIS! NATSU'S ALIVE AND HE WAS AT MY HOUSE WITH MAVIS!"

All eyes turned toward Elfman, who'd just rushed through the doors to the guild. Gajeel was the first to respond with a snicker. "You're a little late there, buddy."

Elfman looked at Natsu and Mavis, and Erza followed his gaze to see the former still pinned to the floor by Wendy. Mavis apparently noticed this too. She took a couple steps over and offered a hand to Wendy. "Do you need some help Wendy?" she asked.

"Umm…" Wendy blinked as the first master leaned further down, removing her arm from around Natsu's waist and 'helping' her to her feet quickly. Still smiling, Mavis then took her place, straddling Natsu's stomach.

"What's this Natsu?" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his face up toward hers. "You steal my first kiss at 12 and then try to leave me for Wendy?"

"It's not like that," protested the 12 year old. "Wendy's like a sister to me!"

"Oh. Well in that case it's alright," Mavis said cheerfully, getting off his stomach and offering a hand to help him up.

"Besides," Natsu added, suddenly rubbing the back of his head. "It's not like we're together or anything. I mean… we're only 12."

"What was that?" Mavis asked, a sickeningly dark aura surrounding her. "Did I just hear you say you went and captured my innocent heart just to string me along and dump me by the wayside? That you stole my first kiss planning to abandon me the minute something better comes along?"

Natsu gulped audibly. "No… Of course that's not what I said Mavis…"

"That's good, Na-kun. Because if you did decide to leave me for someone else, I'd have to kill her and then deal out punishment like you've never seen before. And I don't think either of us wants _that_ to happen. Do we, Na-kun?"

"N-no Mavis-chan." Natsu gulped.

"Excellent!" Mavis's cheerful demeanor returned as she wrapped her arms around the pink-haired dragon slayer. Erza watched as several girls quickly averted their gazes from Natsu, fearful of incurring Mavis's wrath.

Just then Mira came back in, her hair back to its normal silvery-white luster. She stared around the room as she approached Erza at the bar. "What'd I miss?" She asked, her eyes settling on Mavis who was still wrapped around Natsu.

"Well," Erza said, looking around at the still silent guild. "Mavis just basically threatened to kill any girl Natsu shows an interest in."

"Oh." Mira's eyes widened as she looked at the first master.

"More important," Erza said, surprised to see Mira so quickly back to her normal self. "Your hair is back to its usual color."

"Oh yeah," Mirajane sighed. "Turns out the fuckers didn't use permanent dye. So after a quick shower and a double wash, all of that disgusting color came out."

"Ah," Erza replied quietly. "Well, I guess you can be thankful that Mavis is at least a little thoughtful." She smirked, secretly wishing the first master were a little lese thoughtful so she could enjoy her rival's discomfort longer.

"Hey Salamander," Gajeel called out boisterously. "You sure know how to get the scary ones huh?"

"I'm… scary?..." Tears began to pool in Mavis's large green eyes. "Am I really scary, Na-kun?"

"Of course not Mavis-chan!" Natsu exclaimed. "Take that back Gajeel!"

"Or what, shrimp, you're a fucking 12 year old," Gajeel retorted.

Mavis whispered something that Erza couldn't hear to Natsu, and Natsu's fists ignited.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Erza's eyes widened at the blow Natsu delivered. Apparently he wasn't kidding about his magic power being as strong as ever. Gajeel went flying through a wall on the opposite side of the guild.

"NOOOOO!" Makarov wailed as his spirit started escaping out of his mouth. Erza and Mira, being the closest, hurriedly pushed it back in. "So much potential…" he gasped out. There was a long pause before he finished, "for destruction…"

Erza gulped. Now that she thought about it, Mavis and Natsu were two of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail now – at the ages of 12. She remembered how destructive 12 year old Natsu had been with the level of magic power he'd possessed at the time.

"The council will be furious…" She muttered.

"They'll probably take his position as Wizard Saint back too," Mira giggled.

Erza forgot about the honorary title, but the thought made her giggle. A 12 year old wizard saint running around destroying everything in his wake, with an equally powerful partner who loved mischief. The thought was as terrifying as it was amusing.

"So Maki," Mavis said with a sudden smile. "Na-kun and I are S-class mages, right?"

"Ummm…" Makarov sweat-dropped. "Technically, Natsu never passed the trials…"

"Are you saying my Na-kun isn't powerful enough to be an S-class?" Mavis said, her sweet tone turning a little sickly. "Because I'm pretty sure the council thought he was powerful enough to rank as a wizard saint."

"But… the two of you on S-class quests…." Makarov's soul started escaping again at the very thought.

"I agree, master." Erza said. "However old these two may have been before, they're 12 again. They shouldn't be allowed to go on quests by themselves under any circumstances."

Mavis glared at her. "For your information, I founded Fairy Tail when I was 12."

Erza sweat-dropped. "But you weren't with Natsu then. He's a bad influence on you."

"My Na-kun is not a bad influence!" Mavis said with a smirk. "No more than you or miss demon over there."

"Mira I might agree with, but how am I a bad influence?" Erza growled. She couldn't believe the nerve of the first master.

"Do I really have to tell everyone about the smutty novels you keep your room stocked with? Or how you stopped thinking about Jellal two years ago, and you've been fantasizing about Na-kun when you pleasure yourself ever since?" Mavis asked quietly.

"N-no!" Erza squeaked, feeling her face turning red, especially when she saw Natsu looking at her with his eyes wide. Suddenly a thought struck her. "W-wait. How did you know about that?"

"Being a spirit has its perks you know," Mavis said with a grin. "I have dirt on everybody in this guild."

"Everybody?" Erza said. This could be useful, especially if she had info on… "What about Mirajane?" she asked, her voice low.

"Oh, I've got lot's of stuff on Mira-chan," Mavis replied with a conspiratory wink.

"Great," Erza said, waiting eagerly for some juicy gossip about her rival.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you," Mavis said with a smirk. "That would defeat the whole purpose of having dirt on her in the first place."

Erza held back the growl forming in her throat and glared at the first master. She then looked at Makarov, a plan forming in her mind. "Master," she said smiling. "While I don't doubt the abilities of Mavis or Natsu, I think it's still best that they not be allowed to go on quests alone. Having two twelve year olds taking job requests by themselves could reflect poorly on our guild's image, and have other unintended consequences for the two."

"Such as?" Makarov asked, blinking.

"Well, two mages, a boy and a girl, both at the age where they're going through puberty…" Erza said, hinting at the kind of rumors they didn't want going around. "Alone for days… weeks even, on missions…"

"Oh…" Makarov nodded sagely. "Laxus, I have to trust you with a very important job."

 _Laxus? Why Laxus?_ Erza frowned. This wasn't going the way she wanted it to at all.

"Laxus, in a few years these two will have finished going through puberty. Her hips will get wider. Her chest will get bigger. He'll get bigger too, and more manly. And when that happens they'll most likely be tempted to engage in certain less than decent activities."

"And?" Laxus said boredly. "What's that got to do with me?"

"When that time comes, you're the only one I can trust to be present… with this." Makarov handed a video recording lacrima to Laxus. "During the next few years, I want you to accompany them everywhere so you know the best way to hide this when that time comes…"

Laxus's bored expression vanished, and he nodded sagely. "It is a very difficult task, master, but I won't fail you."

"Master, you perv!" Erza yelled. "Neither you nor Laxus needs to be anywhere near these two. Especially once they're old enough to do… that. I'll chaperon them on the missions."

"I'll go with her," Mirajane added.

Erza glared at her rival. Who did she think she was, butting in on her turf like that? "That won't be necessary," she growled.

"I think it will," Mira said with a bright smile. "After all, we wouldn't want Mavis to have to kill you."

Erza felt her cheeks getting red despite her best efforts. "I – Natsu's 12 you pervert!" She yelled.

"Yeah, but he won't be forever." Mirajane's smile twisted into a smirk. Erza continued to glare even though her cheeks were as red as her hair.

She looked around to see many guild members watching the conversation with interest. She needed to turn this around on the she-devil, and fast, or people would start picking on her over the now 12-year-old dragon slayer. "So what, you just want to come along so you can steal Natsu for yourself?" She retorted loudly.

Now it was Mira's turn to blush, and Erza smirked triumphantly as she pushed her advantage. "I bet you're all ready to play 'mother' to 12 year old Natsu so you can cozy up to him when he's back to his gorgeous 18 year old body, ne?"

Mira blushed deeper, but Erza noticed that the entire guild seemed to be staring at _her_ now. That wasn't supposed to happen. They should all be staring at, or heckling, Mira. Mira was the one who was supposed to be embarrassed right now. Not her. So why was everyone still staring at her like she'd just confessed…

All at once she realized what she'd just said. Her face turned a bright crimson, her mind working furiously to figure out how to salvage what was left of her pride in this situation. With a wave of dismissal, she grabbed Natsu and Mavis. "Have it your way, succubus. We'll both chaperon them on missions."

"I think that's a good idea," Mavis chimed in, and Erza turned to see a smirk on the first master's delicate features. "That way I can keep an eye on both of you."

Erza sweat-dropped as she remembered the first master's earlier promise to kill any girl that Natsu seemed to be "leaving her" for. Perhaps chaperoning Natsu wasn't such a good idea after all…

"On second thought Erza, you can chaperon them by yourself," Mira said with a sweet smile.

 _Crap. She must've been thinking the same thing._ "No, actually I think you're better fit to chaperon them." Erza replied, thinking quickly. "You've always been more of a motherly figure, probably because you had to watch out for your younger siblings."

Mira glared at her. "Exactly why you need the experience." She said. "What better way to figure out the whole mothering thing than spending time chaperoning two children who are more than capable of taking care of themselves?"

"That's just the issue though," Erza retorted. "Your experience is more suited to reining in two kids who also happen to be powerful mages. I tend to rely more on brute force, while you rely more on manipulation."

"But Mavis sees through manipulation," Mirajane replied. "Whereas at least Natsu is probably still scared shitless of your brute force."

"Enough!" Mavis said, a slightly dark aura coming off of her. "Either you both come along, or neither one does. I'm invoking my authority as First Master on this."

Erza sweat-dropped. She'd almost forgotten the 12 year old kid that was now Natsu's partner in crime was also the first guild master of Fairy Tail. Shit. What was the world coming to?

 _Destruction. Complete and utter destruction._ A voice muttered in her mind. She stilled it instantly. Sure, the two were mischievous, and maybe a tad bit careless sometimes. But they weren't that destructive…

At least, she hoped they weren't. But then, why was Makarov clutching his wallet as though it were the most precious possession on earth to him?

More importantly, though, how was she going to get through the next several weeks… maybe even years… of quests without doing anything that might suggest to the first master that she had designs on Natsu? And what would be considered a sign? Physical contact? Hugging? Snuggling? Kissing? _On the forehead of course, you pervs. He is only twelve for fuck's sake._

Well, if she was lucky Mira would cross the line first and show her where it was. Until then, she'd just have to accept her fate. "I guess we have no choice but to agree then." She said, and Mira nodded her affirmation with a sigh.

"Great!" Mavis grinned. "Come on Na-kun, let's find a job!"

And they were off to the S-class board. Erza shook her head as she watched them go. There was only one thing to do at a time like this.

"Mira, I need a strawberry cake. Now."


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Those belong to Mashima.

Sorry these chapters are taking so long to get up. I'm kinda' slammed with extra projects right now, unfortunately. However, I've got lots of ideas for stories, as tends to happen when I spend time away from what I'm currently writing... So anywho...

We now return to your featured presentation...

Er, that is... Here's the story. Enjoy. Read, review, etc.

* * *

"Hey Erza, want some extra-creamy whipped cream on that strawberry?"

Erza sighed as she looked up at Gray. He was currently standing on the bar over her plate, his hips dropped and rocking back and forth suggestively. His words were a little slurred, and his cheeks were flushed red from the effects of alcohol. If it weren't for the last part, she would've beaten the crap out of him for being so crude. But as it was…

Suddenly his clothes disappeared. Erza watched in horror as a drop of sweat came off his now-naked balls and dropped. Right. On. Her. Strawberry. Cake. Ok. That was unforgivable.

She saw Gray's face register shock, confusion, and then terror before she dragged him outside the guild for his beating…

 **~~~A couple hours ago~~~**

"Gray-sama, Juvia got your clothes!" The rain woman ran up to her love interest, then stopped, staring.

"Juvia? Where did you get those?" Gray asked, his usual clothes covering his body. "Do you just carry extra clothes around with you? Did you like break into my house while I wasn't looking or something?"

"Juvia swears she doesn't! Juvia didn't!" Juvia denied, her face turning beet red as she dropped the clothes. "Juvia was sure she just saw Gray-sama take these off just a few moments ago!"

"Well as you can see, I'm fully clothed." Gray stated, turning away from the rain woman.

A few tables away, a blonde 12-year old girl and a 12-year old boy with pink hair snickered.

"So when will you drop the illusion?" Natsu asked.

"When it's time," Mavis answered sweetly. "You have to go enact phase 2."

"Ok," Natsu grinned. He got up and made his way over to where Gray was. "Hey ice-princess. I challenge you to a drinking contest. Loser has to be the winner's bitch for a day."

"No way," Gray sneered. "You're not old enough to drink anyway, brat."

"I can drink if I want to. Cana started when she was 12," Natsu smirked. "Afraid you'll lose to a 12-year old Gray?"

"What? Of course not. But I bet Mira won't even let you drink."

"We'll see about that," Natsu said, heading up to the bar.

"Hey Mira," he said sweetly. "I can drink alcohol if I want, right?" In a much lower voice he added, "If you let me drink whenever I want, you won't be the subject of our pranks ever again. But if you say no… you'd better watch your back for the next 6 months."

"Umm… I suppose so, Natsu." Mira said, terrified at the prospect of being singled out by the borderline evil pair for that long.

"Great!" Natsu grinned, speaking loudly again. "Cause Gray and I are about to have a drinking contest, and it would be really hard to win if I couldn't drink."

"You're actually letting this flame-brain drink?" Gray asked, approaching the bar.

"Yeah, you got a problem with it?" Mira let some of her demonic aura seep out.

"Ummm… I guess not?" Gray sighed, and Mira was glad he didn't press the issue. Though when she thought about it, she didn't know why Gray would accept the challenge. Didn't he know Natsu could use his magic to burn off over 95% of the alcohol before it even hit his system?

"Alright, let's do this!" Natsu grinned.

 **~~~6 pints later~~~**

"Alright Natshu, I give up…" Gray slurred. "I may not be passhed out yet, but I know when I've losht…"

Natsu smirked. "Alright! Ice princess gets to be my bitch for a day." He then headed back to sit down next to Mavis.

"So now what?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the table.

"We wait for the perfect moment," Mavis said with a grin.

"I hate waiting…" Natsu pouted, resting his chin on his elbows.

"You should learn to like it more," Mavis giggled. "Waiting makes everything more worthwhile."

"Hmph." Natsu grunted, looking at the table.

"Will this help make the waiting easier?" Mavis leaned against him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder.

Natsu's face turned a little pink. "That's embarrassing."

"You're embarrassed by me, Na-kun?" Mavis said in a hurt voice, pulling away from Natsu.

"Of.. of course not Mavis-chan!" Natsu said. "I didn't mean to make you upset. It just… feels a little awkward is all!"

"Hmph." She crossed her arms and looked away.

"I'm sorry for making you think I was embarrassed by you, Mavis-chan!" Natsu said. "Please forgive me," he begged.

Mavis sighed, hiding her smirk before turning back to him. "I'll forgive you this once Na-kun."

"Thanks Mavis-chan!" Natsu said, hugging her. "You're the best!"

Mavis watched as people began taking advantage of Gray's drunkenness, but none of the situations really worked well for her. She was sure if she waited long enough the perfect moment would arrive. But how could she be sure?

After another hour had passed and Mavis was ready to give up on finding the right moment, the perfect opportunity finally presented itself. In the form of Laxus.

"Hey stripper," the lightning mage said. "I dare you to get on the bartop and make a sexual innuendo involving Erza's cake."

Gray paled a little at the suggestion. "Umm… I may be drunk, but that doesn't sound like a good idea…"

"What's wrong Gray? Are you a man or a chicken?" Laxus asked.

This caught Elfman's attention. "A real man doesn't back down from a dare!"

Gray looked over to the bar, where Erza was happily eating her strawberry cake, oblivious to the world. He gulped.

Natsu and Mavis watched, fascinated with the scene unfolding. Under normal circumstances Gray wouldn't dare do anything that might anger Erza. But Gray was drunk. It was just possible…

"20,000 Jewel says you won't do it!" Laxus called out.

The ice mage's face decided on an arrogant smirk. "Watch me," he grinned, quietly approaching the bar.

And as soon as Erza looked up from her strawberry cake, Mavis dissipated Gray's illusionary clothing.

"Maybe that'll teach ice-princess to keep his clothes on," Natsu grinned as they watched Erza drag him away.

"I hope so," Mavis giggled. "I'm tired of having to look at his naked ass."

Their work accomplished, Natsu and Mavis decided to head up to the second floor to look for a job. "Remember Na-kun, we need one that we can split 4 ways," Mavis said as she searched the S-class job board.

"Yeah, but Mira and Erza only get half shares, and they stay out of the fight unless we need them," Natsu said. "Which means if we take this job that pays 3 million jewel, you and I would get 1 million each." He pulled out a job request for some mages to kill a monster that was devouring livestock in Fiore's biggest farming town.

"Now, Na-kun, you forgot to leave at least a million for damage." Mavis tsked as she pulled another request off the board. This one paid 5 million, and involved the capture of an elite group of rogue mages who called themselves "Serpent's Fang." According to the request, they were wanted for murder, rape, theft, slaving, and various other high-profile crimes.

Natsu grinned. "Yeah, that looks interesting too. Let's get going!"

"As soon as Erza gets back in here," Mavis said with a smile. She didn't show it, but this was an extremely exciting moment for her. She was actually going on a job! She hadn't even used her magic in combat for over 100 years. Well, except the war with Alvarez, and that didn't really end well.

Soon Erza finished teaching Gray his lesson. As soon as she came through the doors, Juvia ran out to check on her Gray-sama. Natsu and Mavis brought the request down.

"Hey Er-chan," Mavis said. "We're taking this job request."

Erza looked at it, then frowned. "Are you sure this isn't a little too dangerous for you two?"

Mavis shrugged. "Well, we could just take it and leave if you don't want to come. After all, the deal was if either you or Mira doesn't want to accompany us, we can just go by ourselves. Besides," she added, "where else are you going to get half a mil without doing anything to earn it?"

Erza scowled. "I'm only coming because of the agreement. Better get Mira over here."

Mavis approached the bar with the request. "Mira-chan, let Maki know we're doing this request and then get your ass over here."

"Watch yourself, Mavis-chan…" Mira growled, but she had no real choice except to inform Master Makarov that they would be going on the request.

 **~~~~A little later~~~~**

"I changed my mind! Let's pick a mission closer to home!"

"Oh come on Na-kun," Mavis was currently dragging the pink-haired dragon slayer toward the train. "It's just a little train ride."

"If by little train ride you mean 5 hour torture session on an evil death contraption…" Natsu moaned. "Don't make me get on that thing Mavis-chan!"

"Oh come on Na-kun. It can't be that bad." Mavis said as she bought their tickets.

"Imagine the worst you think it could be, and multiply that times a billion." Natsu said, starting to turn a little green just from thinking about transportation.

"Drama queen," Mavis said as they got on board, closely followed by Mirajane and Erza.

"Actually, he gets motion sickness pretty bad," Erza said. "But that's ok. I can just knock him out."

"If anyone knocks him out it'll be me," Mavis said, glaring at the red-haired knight. "But I think it's about time Natsu got over his motion sickness. Don't you?"

"How do you expect me to do that?" Natsu whined.

Mavis smiled at the young dragon slayer. "I could train you out of it Na-kun."

"Sounds scary…" Natsu groaned. Then he froze as he felt her aura suddenly turn colder.

"Or I could put Erza in charge of training you out of it," Mavis said in an all-too-sweet voice. "Since I'm too _scary_ for my Na-kun…"

"GOMEN I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" Natsu cried, fearful of undergoing any training implemented by the scarlet-haired knight. "I'll be happy to train with Mavis-chan!"

"It's decided then," Mavis said, her aura returning to its normal, cheerful state. "As soon as we get back from this quest we'll start your motion sickness training."

Natsu's enhanced ears picked up Erza whispering to Mirajane, "Perhaps it'll keep the little devils occupied for a couple weeks."

"Hey Mavis," he said with a grin. "We'll still have time for pranks, right?"

"Of course," Mavis said with a bright smile. "We'll always have time for fun!"

"Good," Natsu grinned back, looking at Erza as he spoke. "We just wouldn't be the same little devils if we were too occupied with our training after all."

Erza didn't say anything, but the sudden widening of her eyes belied the stoic expression her lips attempted to keep. Natsu offered her a slight smirk before nestling against Mavis, realizing he was feeling a little queasy.

"Hey, we're moving!" He exclaimed, surprised. "I'm not nearly as sick as I usually am. Is that your doing Mavis-chan?"

"I'm flattered Na-kun," Mavis said with a smile. "But I can't take credit."

"Weird," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head. He should be on the floor ready to vomit right now, not just feeling a weird uneasiness in his stomach and chest.

 _You do realize that you're my chosen vessel now, so I can't let you get too motion sick or I'd experience it too._

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Natsu said aloud.

"Forgot about what, Na-kun?" Mavis asked, her eyes searching his.

"I'm surprised the great fairy tactician hasn't figured it out yet," Natsu said, smirking at her inwardly. _Yes! I know something Mavis doesn't!_

His elation was cut short when Mavis's smile turned sweeter, a sure sign he wasn't going to like what came next. "What was that, Na-kun? I'm pretty sure I must've misheard you, because I think you said that you wanted to discover what could be worse than severe motion sickness for 5 hours on a train…"

Natsu gulped, shivering slightly. _She's a demon too…_ "Umm… I said it's because of the whole Ankhseram thing. It kind of mitigates the effects of the motion sickness."

"Ah, I figured that might be the case." Mavis said brightly.

Across from them, Erza and Mirajane just sweat-dropped. Natsu shared the sentiment, though he wouldn't dare express it with Mavis sitting right next to him.

"So Na-kun," Mavis said. "Tell me about Igneel."

"Hmmm…" Natsu sighed. "Igneel was a huge, really powerful, awesome dragon. He was the king of the fire dragons and of course my dad!"

Mavis sweat-dropped. "Is that all?"

Natsu looked at her. "Did I mention he was a super-cool dragon?"

"What was he like?" Mavis tried again.

"He was awesome!"

"What did you guys do together?"

"Oh," Natsu thought for a minute. "We did all kinds of awesome stuff. Training, flying, eating, sleeping…"

"Ok," Mavis said. "Is there anywhere special that you would go?"

"Umm, not really. It didn't matter where we were when I was with Igneel!"

Before Mavis could prod him further, he said "What about you Mavis? I don't know anything about your childhood."

Mavis looked down, a cloud coming over her eyes. "It wasn't much to speak of," she said quietly. "After mama and papa died, I had to work for this really mean guild. But it wasn't that bad!" She added, half brightly. "I got food and clothes. And of course there were always lots of people there. But then one day another wizard guild attacked while I was away, and there was nobody left alive except Zera."

"Well," she added after a few minutes, "Actually Zera wasn't alive either, but she lived in my subconscious. At the time I thought she was alive though, and it made me happy. Because I had someone to talk to and share life with. As long as I had that I could be happy," her smile came back to her features.

"Oh, and one more thing Na-kun. You should know you didn't actually steal my first kiss. My first kiss was almost a hundred years ago, and it was your brother."

"WHAT?!" Mira, Erza, and Natsu all did instant spit-takes.

Mavis looked sad again. "He was different back then. His goal was to isolate himself so he couldn't hurt anyone else… But as soon as I kissed him, I 'died.' After that, my friends who I founded the guild with did everything they could to preserve my life. And apparently, they succeeded," she added.

"So what did you do all that time before we first saw you on Sirius Island?"

Mavis smiled brightly. "Oh, I watched the guild of course. Once I got used to the idea of being a spirit, it was actually quite fun. Although I never did quite get used to missing out on all the fun," she said with a little pout. "You guys were all so much fun to watch, and I really wanted to meet all of you, but I always just figured it was better I didn't."

"So why did you change your mind?"

"After Sirius Island I couldn't hold back," Mavis said. "There was just so much excitement, especially when you all entered the Grand Magic Games after being gone for 7 years. I couldn't miss that."

"Hmm…" Natsu could still feel the little bit of queasiness in his stomach, but it was nowhere near the levels it had been before. Still, he didn't feel like talking a lot so he continued to press Mavis for more information about her. "So why were you crying between my grave and Zeref's when I was dead?"

Mavis stared at him. "You saw that?"

Natsu realized from her reaction that it was probably a shock to all of them that he knew what had been happening during the year that he was dead, but he didn't know if his stomach could handle a full explanation at the moment, so he just said. "Yeah, I saw a few things while I was dead… I don't know exactly how or why what I saw was chosen, but it wasn't like I saw everything. It only felt like a few hours."

"Hmm…" Mavis said, looking at Natsu with a thoughtful expression. "I supposed there's no reason not to tell you. You are Zeref's brother after all, and I can't help thinking that, in many ways, you're like Zeref would have been if he hadn't given himself over to darkness. During the years that I spent watching the guild, I never saw anyone quite like you, either before or after you joined. You were always ready with a smile when people needed it. You cared more about your guildmates than your own well-being. In a lot of ways, you were the fairy heart as much as I was." She looked at Natsu, her smile turning somewhat mischievous. "And of course, I did kiss your brother, so I had to wonder…"

"I see," Natsu sighed, his eyes closing as his body decided it would be better to sleep than deal with this uneasy feeling in his stomach the whole train ride. Erza and Mirajane were talking now, but he didn't even bother to try to comprehend what they were saying as he drifted into unconsciousness.

They were already at the next stop when Natsu woke up, his head resting on Mavis's shoulder. His head was quickly removed as Mavis suddenly jumped up, and the only thing that kept him from hitting the floor was her hand grabbing his and pulling him at a sprint toward the door. "We're here!" She exclaimed with excitement.

After they were off the train, Natsu managed to get his feet under him and run alongside Mavis. She didn't stop till she reached a large tavern located near the center of town. Then she just stopped and turned around. Natsu sighed, having no idea what she could be thinking, and turned around as well. He saw Erza and Mira, both running to catch up as they carried their travel bags.

"Wow Mavis-chan," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head with a grin. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone so excited to get off a train – even me!"

"I just like new places, Na-kun." Mavis pouted at him. "Is something wrong with that?"

"Of course not," Natsu replied. Damn, she was cute when she pouted. "I was just surprised is all."

"You could walk like a normal person," Erza said as she set her four suitcases and large travel bag down. "I was barely able to get my luggage together with you dashing off like a mad woman."

"Well I'm glad you managed to get it all together, cause we're staying at this inn right next to the tavern," Mavis said with a grin. "I expect to be done with this job by tonight, though."

As the girls brought their luggage into the inn, Natsu, who didn't have any luggage, followed Mavis into the tavern. Once inside, they ordered food and Mavis went to a small table in the corner.

"Can't we sit over there?" Natsu asked as he joined her, pointing to a table near the middle of the tavern where a lot of people were gathered. He liked being in the center of the action, especially when it came to people.

"Nope," Mavis offered him her infuriating 'I have a plan' smile. "We're just gonna' sit back here and watch."

"Whatever," Natsu sighed. Apparently this was going to be a boring mission, but right now he had his food to distract him. He didn't want to overspend, so today his order consisted of a mere 3 plates that were basically filled with meat.

He was almost finished when Mirajane and Erza came over to the table.

"Why are you guys all the way in the corner?" Erza asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair. "Natsu usually likes to be the center of attention."

Before Natsu could answer, Mavis said. "We're over here because I'm trying to spend a little time getting to know Na-kun better, which would be harder with other people around." She stared at Erza and Mira pointedly.

"Well, I suppose I can see that," Erza said, pulling a chair out and starting to sit down until Mira grabbed her shoulder.

"Erza, let's go sit by the bar." Mira said, and Natsu caught her winking at Mavis.

"But we can't leave Natsu and Mavis alone here," Erza said, hesitating in a half-standing position.

Mira rolled her eyes. "We're not leaving the building, Erza. We'll be able to see them the whole time, and it's not like they're going to do anything indecent. They are only 12 you know."

Erza blushed. "Of course I know that," she snapped at Mira. "I was more concerned for their safety."

Mira giggled. "This is Natsu and Mavis we're talking about Erza. I'm more concerned for the safety of anyone who tried anything with them."

"Fine. I could use a drink anyway." Erza said irritably, pushing the chair back in and following the take over mage to the bar.

Natsu watched as they each ordered a plate of food and a beer. "So what are we waiting for?" He asked Mavis quietly.

Mavis just smiled. "You'll see," she said. "Just watch Erza and Mira closely. And don't drink that," she added, grabbing the orange juice he ordered and dumping it out on the floor.

"What was that for?" He asked, glaring at her. "I like orange juice."

Mavis sighed. "Natsu, do you know why we came to this town?"

"Because we're trying to capture some rogue mages?"

"Yes. We're trying to capture some rogue mages, and based on my research I've determined that this is the most likely place to get a lead on them. We know these mages are into things like rape, murder, and selling people into slavery. So we should be very careful. Especially since there's a huge market for child slaves in Bosco right now."

"What's that got to do with my orange juice?"

Mavis sighed, never looking away from Mirajane and Erza. "Possibly nothing, but drinks are one of the easiest things to slip drugs into. There are plenty of drugs that dissolve in liquids that would be all too noticeable on foods."

"Oh…" Natsu blinked, then started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Mavis asked.

Natsu stopped, confused. "I was going to warn Mira and Erza."

Mavis sighed. "That's exactly what I don't want you to do."

"Eh?" Natsu sat back down, even more confused now. "But they could be in danger."

"Exactly," Mavis said. "I'm sure you've noticed by now that there aren't any attractive women in this tavern. That means that two hotties like our Mirajane and Erza should attract lots of attention…"

"I don't see how this means we shouldn't warn them!" Natsu's confusion mounted. He didn't want to see Mira or Erza get hurt.

"We'll be right here watching," Mavis said. "And if anyone makes a move we'll see them. You get it now?"

"Oh… I get it. Then we kick their ass!" Natsu grinned.

"Yeah, something like that." Mavis said with a smile.

"Ok, I think I get it now." Natsu went back to watching the two women at the bar. Both of them were looking toward him frequently at first, but after a few minutes they got more involved in their conversation and less worried about the 12 year olds. After they finished eating, they both started sipping their beers.

Natsu knew they needed to watch the girls, but the lack of action was killing him. If he wasn't sleeping, or so sick that talking made him feel like throwing up, he needed something to fill the silence.

"So how will we know when they get here?"

"You'll know when the time comes," Mavis said. "And if I'm not mistaken, we should find out soon."

"But this is boring." Natsu complained. "I wanna' go kick some ass!"

"Keep it down," Mavis said, rolling her eyes at him. "You're like a little kid."

"I am a little kid," Natsu retorted, turning his attention back toward the bar.

"Perhaps your body is, but your mind should be more disciplined. Like mine."

Natsu was about to retort, but suddenly Mira slumped to the bar.

"Mira?" Erza looked at her, then looked toward Mavis and Natsu, her mouth opening as though she were about to say something, but whatever it was came out as a weak mumble as she slid to the floor.

Natsu tried to get up, only to have Mavis grab his shoulder and force him down. "Don't make it obvious that you're watching," she hissed in his ear.

Natsu wasn't sure he liked this business-minded Mavis. He preferred to face everything head on with his fists. He growled as two men in flashy, red and dark green clothing came in to the bar, picked up the two women, and headed out in front of everyone. People moved out of their way, giving them a wide berth no matter where they went. Even the bartender didn't say anything as the men took Mira and Erza out the door.

"Alright, let's go." Mavis spoke quietly, getting up and heading to the door. Natsu followed her, fuming. How could all those people just stand there while two women were clearly drugged and kidnapped in front of them? Why did Mavis just sit there?

"Mavis, why didn't we stop them?" He asked the blonde tween, still pissed that he just sat there and watched two of his best friends get drugged and kidnapped.

"Natsu, there are more than two mages in the rogue group," Mavis said, her tone slightly annoyed. "If we just attacked them right there, they'd know we were here to hunt them. Then what do you supposed would've happened?"

"I would've beat 'em till they told us where to find the rest."

Mavis sighed, not slowing as they trailed the two mages several meters behind. "I know a great game Natsu. It's called be quiet and follow the bad guys."

Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but somewhere along the line his brain kicked in and he realized that arguing might give their presence away. So he shut it again. Fine. He would work with her plan for now, but that didn't mean he had to be happy with it.

* * *

Alright, so I have a serious question here. You can let me know by PM or whatever, but how many of you would rather see me finish this story and how many would prefer to see the following story that I'm going to write at some point anyway:

Fairy Tail: Psychic Detectives (AU)

Mavis Vermillion is an absolute genius when it comes to knowledge and observation. She could probably do anything she wants. But there's a problem. She's lazy. She's 23 and still living at home. One day her mom, Jenny Realight Vermillion, throws her out of the house. To make money, Mavis decides to use her powers of observation to start a "Psychic Detective Agency" in Magnolia. Figuring she'll need some muscle, she talks Natsu Dragneel, a handsome, if a bit dense, pink-haired man who has a 10th degree black belt in 7 different schools of martial arts, into joining her psychic detective agency part time. When not helping in her agency (or practicing martial arts), Natsu is the top video game salesman for the Albasoft video game empire, and his brother, Zeref Dragneel and CEO (though he prefers to be called emperor) of Albasoft, isn't too happy about anything that occupies the time of his top salesman. Pairings will be Natsu x small harem (Mavis, Erza, and Mira at least. Max for the harem would be 5). (And yes, this is totally a rip off of Psych ^_^)


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Those belong to Mashima.

So... I had to change the rating to M to be safe because of some of the slaver's talk. I'll probably just start everything out as M from now on, because that gives me more freedom with things like blood, gore, sexual themes, etc.

Anyway, other than that, here's the next chapter. Read and Review as always**

* * *

"Ugh…" Mira groaned as her eyes opened slowly. The first thing she noticed was that her hands were uncomfortably pinned behind her back, the feeling of cold steel pressing against her wrists. The next thing she noticed was the warmth of another body against hers.

As her eyes opened fully, she realized she was in a large, metal cage. Bars were set just far enough apart that arms could reach through them, possibly up to the elbows for arms as slender as hers, but there was no way a person would be able to slip in or out. She quickly discovered that the person laying next to her was Erza, who was similarly cuffed. A quick test proved she was unable to use magic.

"Nnn.." Erza groaned, and as Mirajane sat up she saw the other woman going through the same mental process she had. She took the moment to look around, and saw about 4 men scattered around what appeared to be a makeshift camp. The one closest to them was a little over six feet tall, built like Jura Neekis, and wielded a spear that had to be at least 10 feet in length, with the spearhead itself measuring at least 4 feet.

"Where are we?" Mira demanded, though she knew the answer well enough already.

The man just laughed, his deep, booming voice echoing through the camp. "Where you are doesn't matter, missy. It's where you're going. And even better, the price you'll fetch us. Our clients will pay exceedingly well for a body like yours, not to mention the notoriety that goes with it."

"So you know who we are," Erza's voice came from next to her, and Mira turned to see a smirk on the knight's face. "Then you also know you're not going to get away with this. Our friends _will_ show up, and as soon as these cuffs are off I'll make you regret every woman you've sold to those _clients_ you're so proud of."

The large man just laughed louder in response.

"What's so funny?" Mira asked, glaring at him.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, cutie, but the only friends that managed to follow you were those two kids you had at the bar. And we just sent one of our strongest out to deal with them. It was actually a stroke of luck for us. After the kids decided not to drink their drugged juice, we thought we were gonna' miss out on another big payoff. But they were dumb enough to follow you here. I can only imagine how much our clients would pay for that girl." His lips drew into a smirk. "I bet her pussy's real tight. Wouldn't mind tryin' it out myself if that wouldn't tank her market value. She's the perfect age. Too young to be strong enough to fight back. Just old enough that you could probably fit all of it in."

"You're a fucking sick bastard," Erza spat, and Mira silently agreed with her, her face contorted in disgust.

"And that boy looks like a real fighter," the large man continued, ignoring them. "But there are lots of guys who like 'em that way. Just means more pain for him, till he learns to cooperate… And that pink hair. Damn. I can think of a couple clients who would pay a hundred thousand just for that."

"You're going to wish you'd never been born once I get out of these cuffs," Mira seethed, unable to control her rage.

"What's wrong, poster girl? Is the pink-haired shit important to you? Well why don't I tell you a little more about what'll happen to him when he's a slave." A twisted smirk appeared on his face. "If he's lucky, he'll get bought by someone looking for a body capable of hard work. Then he'll just have to worry about getting whipped when he don't listen. But he's got pink hair. And the kind of guys that will pay extra for that…" The guy paused, leaning closer to the cage as his eyes glistened with a sick fascination. "Those guys are the real sickos. And believe me, they've got money. I'll tell you exactly what they'll do. The first thing they'll do is take him down to their private little dungeon to soften him up a bit. They'll teach him everything there is to know about pain. And if he still isn't willing to submit to them, then they'll rape him. They won't chain him down completely. They like the kids that struggle, cause struggling will just make it more painful for him. They'll keep raping him, over and over, till he doesn't struggle anymore. And then they'll bring their friends."

At this point the man's sadistic smirk widened even more, and Mira noticed he was getting aroused by his description. "And when they get tired of him, they'll bring all their friends together. They'll just keep going, one after another. Torturing and raping his ass…." He paused for another moment, leaning closer with a sadistic smile on his face. "…till they rape his ass to death." His voice was barely louder than a whisper now, and Mirajane shuddered.

Fortunately they were saved from any further interaction with the creep by a huge explosion in the forest nearby. The large man straightened up, looking toward the source of the sound as a pillar of fire shot up so it was easily visible above the treetops nearby. "What the fuck was that?!" He asked loudly, as the others also jumped up, on the alert.

"That," Mirajane said, managing a grin as she tried to shake off her horror and disgust, "was our friends. The two most powerful children in Fiore, if not all earthland," she added for effect, watching the man's face.

"You're lying," he said with a sneer. "There's no way a kid would have the magic power to cause an explosion like that."

"You'll see soon enough," Erza said, a smirk on her face now.

Just then another man came running in, wearing a long, dark brown cloak with a hood. "Everyone get ready. Those kids are coming this way, and they're monsters!"

"Monsters? That's not very nice," Mavis's voice floated across the clearing, and Mira's smirk widened. "We're just a couple kids who stumbled across some trash in the woods. And like good children we decided to clean it up, right Na-kun?"

"What she said," Natsu said with his signature grin. "I'm all fired up!"

"Insolent whelp!" The man with the spear yelled. "I may have to teach you a lesson right now! I don't care if it brings down your market value. We've got plenty who'll still pay a pretty price for that hair of yours!"

"Big words," Natsu said, the grin never leaving his face. "But can you back them up?"

With a roar the man charged Natsu, lightning crackling around the spear. "You don't stand a chance against the spear of the gods. Taste the wrath of Heimsval!"

Natsu easily side-stepped the spear, but the large man just smirked, plunging the tip into the ground. "Sacred Spear Secret Technique: Thunder God's Wrath!"

The ground exploded around Natsu as electric bolts leapt up from below, even as more came crashing down from above the dragon slayer. For several moments all that could be seen where Natsu was just standing was a brilliant column of yellow-white lightning, reaching up to the heavens as the chunks of rock fell into the crater that was just created by the attack.

"Natsu!" Mira yelled, desperately trying to free herself from her restraints.

When the lightning and smoke cleared, the dragon slayer was still standing there, his shirt shredded to reveal his body that was too toned and perfect for a 12 year old, but otherwise hardly even scratched. He had a wide grin on his face. "Alright! You could be more fun than that last guy I fought!"

"N-no way…" The man backed off, spear still in hand. "Get him!" He yelled at the others. The four charged Natsu, who looked at them with a bored expression on his face.

"You guys are in the way," he said as he moved to intercept them. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" The cone of flame enveloped all four of them at once, sending them flying back and knocking them unconscious in an instant.

"Don't come any closer!" Mira suddenly felt the cool tip of a spear against her neck. "I'll kill them!"

Before Mira could voice her demand that the two not worry about their safety, the weapon was suddenly pushed up and away from her by an unseen force. She looked to see Mavis, focusing intently on the other mages.

"You know, I thought I would have a little fun and see how long this fight could be drawn out," Natsu said. "But then you had to go and threaten my friends…. Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The large man raised his spear in an attempt to block, but as Mira watched, Natsu's attack shattered the spear. He then followed it up with a Fire Dragon's Talon, slamming the large man hard into the ground, where he lay panting and wheezing.

"Natsu," Mira heard Erza beside her. "Uncuff me. I'm going to finish this one."

Natsu's eyes narrowed. "You're not getting any extra reward money if I do…"

Erza sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not interested in reward money. I'm doing this for myself."

"Ok then," Natsu shrugged and, after breaking open their cage, he found the key and unlocked Erza's anti-magic cuffs. Erza quickly requipped her sharpest sword.

"Ok-ok, I surrender!" The big man said, waving his hands in the air. Apparently without his spear he was pretty much worthless.

"Good," Erza said with a smirk. "That'll make this that much easier." Her sword descended rapidly, and the guy howled in pain, clutching at his crotch area.

"Cauterize the wound for me Natsu," Erza instructed Natsu, turning away from the man quickly. Mira smirked as Mavis and Natsu stared on in shock. Then Natsu did as he was instructed and used fire to cauterize the bloody wound that was where the slaver's manhood used to be. He then left him rolling on the ground screaming, and the group started heading out.

"Na-kun," Mavis said, a pout in her voice as they started to head back toward town. "You haven't shown me any of your super powerful attacks yet."

"Sorry Mavis," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll tell you what… I 'll do my Fire Dragon King's Roar. Just tell me which direction."

"Hmmm…" Mavis thought for a minute and then pointed. "That way Na-kun!"

Mira blinked. She knew that she was disoriented from having been drugged and pulled out to the forest, but shouldn't the town be somewhere in that direction? But before she could stop him Natsu transitioned to Fire Dragon King mode.

"Fire Dragon King's Roar!" A huge, enormously hot cone of fire shot through the forest as far as the eye could see in the direction Mavis pointed. Natsu grinned and turned back to Mavis. "How was that Mavis-chan?"

"That was great, Na-kun! Let's go see how far it went!"

Mira shared a suspicious glance with Erza before they followed the pair down the desolation of scorched trees and earth. They kept going for several minutes with no end in site until they saw the outskirts of town. There on the outskirts was the base of a large, stone building. The rest of the stone was destroyed, either crumbled with the force of the fiery blast or melted from the intensity of its heat.

The mayor was coming out to meet them. Mira gulped, as she and Erza stood before him.

"We rounded up the slavers, sir." She said, bowing a little respectfully.

"And what?!" The mayor said, sounding pissed. "Are you just going to pretend this didn't happen?! That building you just blew up will cost us 800,000 jewel to repair! 800,000 Jewel!" He yelled again for emphasis.

Before Mira could answer, Mavis responded sweetly. "We're really sorry about that, sir. But could you, please, please not mention this to the council?" She was giving him her best impression of a puppy. "We'll even give you 1 million jewels from our reward to cover the cost of repairs," she added.

The mayor was still glaring, but as he looked at the 12 year old in front of him his lips began to slip out of a glare. By the time he opened his mouth to speak, he was actually smiling again. "Ahhh… I couldn't say no to a cute face like that." His voice was still gruff. "Give us a million from your reward as you promised and we'll make sure the council doesn't hear about this."

"Thanks so much sir!" Mavis said with a bright smile. "We'll get our reward from the rune knights and then bring your share back!" She grabbed Natsu's hand and headed toward the rune knight outpost on the other side of town.

Mira and Erza were starting to follow them when the Mayor grabbed Mira's shoulder. "Those are really cute kids you two have there," he said. "I don't know if they're your siblings or children, but either way the two of you better take care of them."

Mira sweat-dropped, wondering what the mayor would think if he knew how carefully Mavis had directed Natsu to aim his powerful attack. But she merely nodded. "We will sir, we know they're very special children."

She heard Erza snort and elbowed her hard as the two took off, following Natsu and Mavis to collect the reward.

As soon as Mavis had the money, she started dividing it up. First she put a million aside for the repairs. Then she set aside 500,000 for Mirajane and 500,000 for Erza. Then she split the rest evenly between her and Natsu.

"You're only giving us 500,000?" Erza asked with a frown.

"Well of course," Mavis said with a smile. "That's what we agreed to, after all."

"But our agreement was that we were to be spectators," Erza argued. "Not get drugged and thrown in a cage."

"It's not our fault you were drinking in a shady town without watching your drinks," Mavis said.

"We… umm… we did that on purpose!" Erza declared. Mira face-palmed as the other girl's face turned beet red. A sure-fire sign she was lying. "We were the adults, so we had to take responsibility for helping you find the bandits and complete the request quickly."

Mavis stroked her chin. "Hmm…. I guess I can see your point if you were just being responsible for helping the mission as you said. Well, there's nothing for it. You two can have 1 million each now."

"Great!" Erza beamed while Mira wondered how someone as sharp as the first master fell for such an obvious lie. However, when several minutes passed and Mavis was packing away the mayor's money in a small bag to give to him, and her own split into her bag, Erza frowned. "So…."

"Hmmm?" Mavis looked up.

"Where's our other 500,000 each?" Erza asked, sounding a little flustered. "Don't tell me you forgot already."

"Oh no! I didn't forget," Mavis grinned. "It's right here!" She held up the bag that was designated for the mayor.

"But-but that's to pay for damages you two caused!" Erza spluttered. "You can't take that out of our cuts."

"And why not?" Mavis asked innocently.

"Because Natsu was the one who destroyed the building, right after you asked him to shoot his most powerful distance attack in that specific direction!" Erza responded, her voice beginning to gain volume.

"Well, as the responsible adult who was here to see that the mission went well, you should've stepped in and stopped him." Mavis answered with a small smirk. "Since you two are our chaperons, it's up to you to make sure Na-kun doesn't cause too much damage."

"Gah!" Mira could tell Erza was at a loss for words, and she wasn't about to argue with the first master. Besides, 500,000 wasn't really that shabby for just running along and being used as bait.

"Let it go Erza," she said with a smile. "Let's go pay the mayor and get out of here."

And so the group all went back to Magnolia with good shares of reward money.

 **~~~~~~The Next Day at Fairy Tail~~~~~~**

"Hey Mira, can you come here for a minute?" Mavis waved from the second floor.

Mira looked nervously around the bar. There didn't seem to be any customers at the moment, but Kinana wasn't there to day, and she didn't want to leave it unattended. "What do you want Mavis?" She asked.

"I need help deciding which request to pick," Mavis said with a sigh. "There aren't any that look interesting enough for Na-kun and me."

"Why don't you just have Natsu help you? I'm sure he'll pick one right away." Mira scoffed. Wasn't the first supposed to be the smart one here?

"Na-kun is busy right now, and I want to show him I can decide on my own," Mavis pouted.

Mira looked around, sighing. Nobody was at the bar, but Erza was due back today and she needed to get started on her strawberry cake. But still, a few minutes couldn't hurt anything. And it wasn't every day that the famous Fairy Tactician asked for your help, after all. Making her decision, she made her way up to the second floor, perusing the board with Mavis.

"Natsu would like this one," she said, quickly taking down a quest to eliminate a dark guild.

"That's what I thought," Mavis said, "but then I did some research and found out this guild is really weak. The only reason the bounty's so high is because they kidnapped some rich guy's daughter *coughwho'ssupposedtobereallyattractiveandNatsu'sagecough*. Na-kun would think it was boring…"

"Hmm… Ok…." Mira sweat-dropped as she finally realized what the young First Master said between coughs. "Well, how about this one? All you have to do is kill a monster that's been attacking a village."

"And if you look at the job request it says they also sent it to Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, and Lamia Scale, all of which are closer to the request site than Fairy Tail," Mavis pouted. "One of those guilds is sure to have sent a team out there."

Mira sighed. She was beginning to understand Mavis's problem. "Are you sure you don't just want to let Natsu pick?"

"NO!" She stuck out her lip stubbornly. "I have to show him I can pick out fun requests!"

Mira scanned the board again. "Well… How about this one?" She finally said, taking down yet another request. This one was to track down a mage that was holding an entire village hostage in his castle dungeons. The only problem was that to reach him, they would have to find their way through an illusory village he created that could change anywhere and at any time. And he supposedly had power that rivaled some of the lower-ranked wizard saints.

"Oh, that looks like it could be fun. Thanks Mira!" Mavis grinned.

"Don't mention it," Mira said, running back down and looking at the time. She needed to get that strawberry cake in if it was going to be ready by the time Erza got back. She quickly got the ingredients out. When she saw the sugar she frowned. _That's odd,_ she thought. _I could've sworn I had more sugar stocked up here._

Fortunately, it measured out to exactly what she needed for the cake. Whistling cheerfully, she shoved the strawberry cake in the oven and headed down to the basement to restock her sugar supply.

About 40 minutes later Erza came into the guild and headed straight up to the bar. "Hey Erza," Mira said with a smile. "How'd your request go?"

"Great," Erza responded. "Turned out to be really easy for an S-class job, so it wasn't hard to keep all the reward money."

"Good," Mira said. Then added, "So can I get you anything?"

"You already know the answer to that," Erza replied with a grin.

"Of course," Mira said, hearing the timer go off in the kitchen. "It'll be right out." She quickly ran back and got the cake, put it on a plate, and rushed it out to the bar for Erza. "Here you go!" She grinned. "Fresh out of the oven!"

She watched with a smile as Erza's eyes lit up and she dug into her favorite delicacy. But she didn't expect what happened next. The knight's face screwed up in a picture of disgust as she spat the food back out on the plate.

"What the hell Mira?!" She practically yelled at the white-haired girl. "I can't eat this!"

"What's wrong with it?" Mira asked, frowning. She'd used the exact same recipe she always did, and Erza loved her strawberry cakes.

"You tell me," Erza scowled, shoving a bite into her mouth. Mira could barely bite down before she spat the piece out of her mouth. Erza was right. It tasted terrible! It had a really salty flavor as though someone had dumped a whole cup of salt or two in there or something.

She was freaking out now. "I don't know what happened Erza! I made it just like I always do I swear!" She thought back. "I had to restock the sugar, but there was just enough for the cake so I waited till after it was in the oven to do that…" She was nearly in tears, wondering how this could've happened.

Suddenly her words and the events of the day hit her, and her gaze turned slowly to a table near the back where Mavis sat next to Natsu, watching the bar and giggling. She came back down from the second floor and found just enough sugar to make the cake. In fact, the amount couldn't have been more precise if somebody had measured out two cups of sugar just for that purpose. Or maybe something that looked like sugar if she wasn't fully paying attention.

Erza's eyes followed her gaze, and a dark expression came over her face. She started toward the table, sword in her hand and murder in her eyes. "You. Ruined. My. Cake." She ground out.

As much as Mira wanted to let her destroy the pair, she knew she would have to intervene. So she stepped between the angry knight and the two children, who were alternately snickering and looking fearfully at the approaching wrath of Erza. She held out her hands in a placating gesture. "I'll make you another cake, Erza. It's alright!"

"No it's not alright!" Erza growled. "They just ruined a perfectly good strawberry cake, and now those strawberries will go to waste."

Mira stood her ground. "Erza, you can't deal with them right now. You're angry."

"Get out of my way Mira," Erza said in an even, terrifying voice. "I don't know why you're protecting those hooligans."

Mira continued to stand there, not willing to back off. "Erza, go sit down and I'll make you another strawberry cake. But if you don't stop this now I'll… I'll cut you off for a week!" She said desperately.

That made Erza pause. "A-a week?" She stammered, a look of uncertainty and shock coming over her face. "You wouldn't!"

"If you don't stop this and go back to the bar I will," she replied evenly. "So come on. You'll get another cake in 45 minutes."

Erza stood there for another whole minute, her body twitching. Just as Mira was afraid the threat wasn't going to be enough, the knight slowly sheathed her sword and walked back to the bar.

As soon as Mira had the cake in the oven she went back out and grabbed Natsu by the ear, dragging him to a side room. "Look, we had a deal. I let you drink, you and Mavis never pull pranks on me again."

"We didn't prank you," Natsu sounded honestly surprised. "We pranked Erza."

"You did…" Mira sighed as she realized he was technically correct they'd just made her an unwitting accomplice to their prank. "Alright. But I'm expanding the deal now. No more pranks that involve me unless I know about it beforehand, or your drinking priveleges are cut off. Do you understand?"

"Aye ma'am," Natsu said soberly.

"Good," Mira said. "Now go back out there and find something else to do before your little girlfriend starts getting jealous."

"She's not my girlfriend," Natsu retorted before heading back out into the common area to sit next to Mavis. Mira just sighed and made her way back up to the bar. She just hoped this pranking thing would wear itself out by the time they got through adolescence…

Otherwise, god help them...

* * *

**So there it is. Don't forget to drop a review, and I would welcome your input on my poll about the next story I should start writing. Thanks a bunch!**


End file.
